Memories of the Ranger
by Jordan-BlackBird
Summary: Dawn reminds of an accident Ash had as a Pokemon Ranger a year ago. What she doesn't know, nothing is as she thinks... PearlShipping, AshxDawn. Presence of an OC.


_Italics – thoughts, written statements and flashbacks_

**Disclaimer:** Pokemon and Nintendo belong to their rightful owners. Author owns only Original Characters appearing in this story. The story is not written for profit.

_**Memories of the Ranger**_

It was a clear night. No clouds in the sky and the moon was shining brightly, falling right into a small bedroom.

The bedroom was clean and cozy. There was a brown bed set near the wall, big enough for two people to sleep comfortably. On the left side of the bed there was a big wardrobe, some bookshelves and a desk with a small lamp and some papers on it. On the right side there was a big window with a blue-haired girl sitting on the chair next to it.

The girl was really pretty. She had long, blue, straight hair with yellow triangle hairclips clipping her hair on each side of her head above her ears and behind her head and sapphire blue eyes. She was wearing a long, white dress with long, loose sleeves and glancing on the night sky.

Dawn sighed. She hasn't remembered when the night sky was so clear and beautiful as tonight. Maybe she didn't remember because she wasn't paying too much attention?

She got up from her chair and left the room. Moving along the hall, she reached the front door and got outside. She leaned against the frame of her house's porch and looked around. Nothing changed much. She still lived in a big, white house in a beautiful neighborhood. There were lots of flowers growing on both sides of the road leading to her house. On the left side Dawn could see a big garden with a swimming pool.

She sighed again. Their Pokemon loved to play there. She remembered when they played together with their Pokemon all afternoons in that garden, laughing all the time. She remembered so many romantic nights they spent in that garden together. She looked on the other side. The was the other part of the garden – with lots of bushes making a maze difficult to complete and a small stream it was another great playground for them and their Pokemon. Dawn stepped down the stairs and slowly made her way towards the stream. As she reached it, she knelt down and put her hand into the cool water, then she started drawing circles in the water. It was a strange feeling for her. She was living like a ghost for all that time, barely seeing anyone. She didn't want it, but it was taking control over her.

She stood back up and made her way back to the house. When she was next to a small garage next to the house, she stopped, turned and walked to the garage door. She slowly lifted them up to reveal an old AE86 Corolla Levin with number plates 22-009.

Dawn sighed again. He was spending so much time in this garage, repairing their old black-and-white, or commonly "panda" car. He promised her to take her on a long trip after finishing it. But he didn't manage to make his trip plan come true.

How long has it been? Dawn wasn't sure. She closed the garage door and walked back to the house. Inside, she instantly went into the living room and took a quick look at the calendar hanging on the wall. It was 18th July.

'_18__th__ July… it's a year since then…' _she thought, walking up to the bookshelf and looking on a photo. On the photo there was she and her lover. Ash. Ash Ketchum, the black raven haired boy with dark brown eyes, with his dream of becoming the greatest Pokemon master. She remembered his determination while travelling with him – he was willing to win, no matter what. What he didn't realize, he slowly fell for her with return and soon after beating the Elite Four of Sinnoh, he retired of his big dream as he found peace at her side. Soon after he received a letter with an offer from Pokemon Rangers HQ. Solana and Kellyn, their Top Ranger friends, decided that Ash as a retired trainer shouldn't waste his skills and offered him a job as the Pokemon Ranger. Ash accepted an offer. He was put into a team together with an old friend of his, a guy named Adam Landors and quickly promoted to Top Ranger, earning the right to use the Vato Nash Stealer. However, he decided not to use it often; he was still working along with his Pokemon, with his old buddy Pikachu on the lead.

Dawn looked at the small electric mouse, which was sleeping peacefully on the couch along with her Buneary. Pikachu took a while to recover from the shock he received after getting the message that Ash… Ash was dead.

She remembered it like it was yesterday, although a year has passed since the accident. It was said to be Ash's last assignment before letting him retire from the job as the ranger. He was sent on that mission with Landors. And he didn't come back…

Memories flooded her mind before she could take control of them.

_Flashback_

"_All right, Ash, is that everything we have to take__?" a tall guy with blue eyes and brown hair forming into three spikes above his forehead, wearing a full ranger uniform put two cases into his white-and-black AE86 Corolla Sprinter Trueno's trunk and closed it._

"_Yeah, Adam. With that stuff we'll be able to jam the signal of outside security systems and get inside. Then, the rest should be much easier. At least that's what Solana told me." Ash put his green rucksack on his back and Pikachu instantly jumped on it. "You're completely sure that your Eight-Six will handle the uphill ride and we don't need any of the cars they are using at work?"  
"Hey, don't forget who was helping you to repair YOUR 86, Ash. If I say that it will get on that mountain, then it's true." Adam grinned and looked at his watch. "OK, it's time. We need to go!" he said as he opened the right door and got in the car._

"_I have to go." Ash turned around to face his lovely girlfriend._

"_Ash, be careful out there, I know it's dangerous-" Dawn started only to be muffled by Ash's kiss. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be back soon. Then, we'll have a long trip together, just you and me, I promise." Ash smiled and hugged Dawn._

"_I'm holding you to that promise." Dawn smiled before giving Ash another kiss, only to part their lips after Adam sounded the horn._

"_Go. Good luck, Ash." Dawn smiled, giving him the last hug. Ash just smiled, then ran to the car and got in. The engine roared and the Trueno accelerated away._

_Dawn was staring at the night sky. Ash and Adam were __still on a mission, and she was waiting for Ash to come back. She was hoping to see him safe and sound as fast as possible; the assignment was to finally catch Hunter J, the famous Pokemon hunter, as Kellyn and Solana located her HQ. Ash had to finish this along with Landors, and they both gave a condition: they catch J, they are free to retire. And the perspective of a long trip, only two of them, was very seductive to her; during the time Ash was working as the Pokemon Ranger, they didn't have time to go on a long vacation._

_She knew that their task was difficult as from what she knew, J's fortress was heavily guarded and getting through it without being noticed was almost impossible. She just hoped that despite difficulties they will complete the assignment and then she and Ash will have more than enough time to be together…_

_Lights flashed up her window for a while. Dawn stood up and looked outside. There was a panda AE86 Corolla Sprinter Trueno with number plates 42-217 parking in front of the house._

'It's Adam's car... They're back, they're finally back!' _she thought, and at the same moment she heard knocking at the door. She ran to open it with a bright smile, and her smile faded a bit when opened door revealed Adam, standing in the doorway in full ranger uniform and with a green rucksack on his back. _'Ash isn't here? Oh, maybe he wants to make a surprise or something…' _she thought realizing that her boyfriend isn't with Landors._

"_Hey, Dawn. May I come in?" Adam asked before Dawn could say a word. She glanced at him; he wasn't smiling, his usual smile faded somewhere._

"_Um… sure, come in, please." She moved a bit so Adam could go inside. She led him into the kitchen, then opened a cupboard and put out three cups. "What will you drink? Tea, coffee?"_

"_Just water. Ice cold." Adam answered. She gave a quick look at him to realize that he was shaking a little, and his eyes were expressing a huge fear. Adam was afraid of something?_

"_Adam, is something wrong? And w__here did Ash go? Shouldn't you two come back together?" Dawn asked._

"_Dawn… I… Ash… he…" Adam paused as a signal started beeping – someone was trying to communicate with him through his Vato Nash Stealer. He stood up and opened the communicator._

"_Landors speaking."_

"_Ranger Landors, you requested a status change for your assignment and for another ranger. Please give us a new status for your assignment." The voice of control center operator was unusually calm._

"_Mission… mission accomplished." Adam said. He was shaking a little harder, so Dawn could see it clearly._

"_Ranger Landors, we need IDs of you and the ranger whose status you're going to change." Operator replied._

"_R-ranger Adam Landors. ID… four-three-s-seven…two-five." Adam's voice started to tremble, his eyes started to well up._

"_Adam…?" Dawn looked at him, seriously worried. Landors wasn't acting like that normally. Something has happened._

"_Ranger Landors, please give the ID of the ranger whose status is going to be changed."_

"_R-ranger A-ash K-ketchum… I-ID t-three-f-five…f-four-seven-six."_

"_Please give us a new status of ranger Ketchum."_

"_N-new-s-s-status… L-I…A… New status is L.I.A…" Adam dropped his head and started to sob._

"_Thank you for your entries, ranger Landors. Status of ranger Ketchum has been changed to L.I.A." After those words, the communicator remained silent._

_Dawn couldn't believe from what she heard. Adam… did he just change Ash's status to L.I.A.? She heard Ash change someone's status to it… and he said that L.I.A. means…_

"_Lost In Action…" Dawn looked at sobbing Adam. He just lifted his head a bit._

"_Adam… it… it can't be… Ash can't be… he can't be lost in action…" Dawn stammered. "NO! Tell me it's not true! Tell me he's alive! Tell me he's going to get back to me!" She grabbed Adam's shirt and pressed him to the wall, then started to hit his chest with her fists. "Tell me he's all right! Tell me that he's not L.I.A.!"_

"_I… I'm so s-sorry, D-dawn…" it was the only answer Dawn heard. She saw tears in Adam's blue eyes and instantly understood everything. Ash was dead. He wasn't coming back to her. Ever._

"_NOOOO! It's impossible!!" Dawn burst into tears and ran outside__, going past Adam's car and further along the path. She heard quick footsteps behind her – it looked like Adam was going after her._

_She didn't want to stop running. She didn't want so see anyone. Her world has collapsed into ruins. She wasn't looking where she was going, she just wanted to go as far away as she could._

"_Dawn!" Adam was getting closer to her. She felt his arm stopping her and a second later she found herself in a tight embrace._

"_Ash… please… he can't be…" she sobbed in Adam's shirt, still shaking and hitting his chest with her fists lightly._

"_Dawn, don't… please, don't…it's painful for me as much as for you…" Adam hugged her, caressing her back. He didn't want her to do anything to herself, and that's why he had to stop her from running away. He heard her sobbing, and he couldn't stop himself from crying. "Come on… let's go back home…" Adam slowly loosened his embrace and put his arm around Dawn's shoulders, slowly leading her back to the house while she was still shaking and sobbing._

_When they were walking past Adam's car, he stopped. He opened the left door and took out something which appeared to be a small electric mouse Pokemon._

"_Is it…?" Dawn wiped her tears away._

"_It's Pikachu. The rest of Ash's team is in their Pokeballs in his rucksack, same as his things. It's all that's left of him…" Adam dropped his head as he gave Pikachu to Dawn._

"_Adam, tell me… h-how did it h-happen?" Dawn asked with trembling voice, as they entered Dawn's living room. She instantly put Pikachu on the sofa and wrapped him in the covers._

"_It's all… because of Ash's stubbornness… if he wasn't so stubborn, he would be here…safe and sound…" Adam sat down on the sofa dropping his head, his voice trembling, while Dawn rested herself in her favorite armchair._

"_Y-you say, y-you BOTH would be h-here… right?" she asked._

"_N-not really. But let me tell you… w-what happened…"Adam took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to get his voice to normal tone. " We already arrested J and we sent her to prison, but after we were left alone in front of her HQ, the rest of her grunts jumped out on us and it looked like they weren't willing to give up that easily… They sent out some big Pokemon at us… Rhydons, Aggrons, Magmars, even Skarmories. We were surrounded, and Ash managed to make a gap between them big enough to escape, with a little help from Pikachu and Buizel… He did that, but I was still trapped there… I told him to run for his life… but he didn't want to leave me for certain death… He taunted the Pokemon army so they rushed towards him, charging their Hyper Beams… He trapped himself on a rock shelf at the edge of the cliff doing that… Before I could do anything to help him, he threw Pikachu and his rucksack at me and told me to take care of you… Seconds later he was blew off by five combined Hyper Beams… After the attacks faded, he was gone, along with a rock shelf he was standing on…" Adam started to sob again. "It… it was stupid! I told him to go… and he didn't…"_

"_And YOU didn't help him?!" Dawn looked at him angrily with tears with her eyes after Adam's words reached her mind._

"_I-i couldn't do anything! H-he taunted those Pokemon to attack h-him… and besides he saved my life doing this! If it wasn't his stubbornness, HE would be the one telling Mia that I AM dead!" Adam raised his voice, hearing Dawn's accusation. "I deeply regret I couldn't help him, but it was his decision to save me instead of himself!" He looked at Dawn only to realize that she was crying again. "I-I'm sorry Dawn, I didn't mean to…" He got closer to her only to feel her gently wrapping her arms around his neck. "Adam… it's me who should be sorry… I misunderstood this…" Dawn sobbed into his shirt._

"_It's OK Dawn, it's OK… let as many tears as you need…" Adam hugged her lightly. _

"_Does… does Brock know?" she asked, sobbing._

"_Yeah… I called him… he'll be here as fast as possible… Ash wouldn't want you to be left alone… Remember then, if you need anything, you can count on us, your friends…"_

_End of flashback_

Dawn wiped away tears forming in her eyes. It took a long time before she completely recovered from the shock she received because of that fact. But she had to deal with it – Ash was gone and nothing could bring him back to life…

She walked up to the shelf and took the photo from it. She looked at it and slid her index finger through Ash's silhouette.

"Why.. why did you leave me?... Why couldn't you think about a better solution?... You have no idea how much I miss you…" she whispered. Nothing could describe that strange feeling she had right now. It felt like a mixture of sadness, despair and desire to go and jump off a cliff to cure all her pain and worries.

"Pi… pika?" she heard behind her. Pikachu woke up.

"Oh, Pikachu, I see you've had enough sleep…" she whispered as she walked up to the sofa Pikachu was on and petted him gently. Pikachu just squeaked lightly, and his eyes darkened when he saw a photo in Dawn's hand.

"Yes, Pikachu, I know you miss him too… It's a year since then, but I can't forget… I still love him, and I still hope that some day… that some day he will be back…" she whispered. "Come with me, I'll give you a treat." Pikachu just looked at her with sadness in his eyes, then jumped off the sofa and ran to the kitchen.

Dawn followed the electric mouse and entered the kitchen. There, she opened the fridge and took out some vanilla ice cream. She put two portions in the bowls and poured one with ketchup sauce – Pikachu's favourite treat – and the other with caramel one. She put the bowls on the window's ledge. Pikachu jumped on it and started eating his treat, while Dawn switched off the light and sat down on the chair, slowly eating her treat and staring at the night sky.

Suddenly, lights flashed up her window. She looked at her Poketch – it was 11 PM. She looked outside – there was a panda Trueno parking in front of her house, closing its retractable headlights.

"A Trueno? What's Landors doing here so late? Doesn't he take into account that I might be sleeping right now?" she said to herself, moving out from the kitchen and walking along the hall. As she reached the front door, the doorbell rang.

She opened the door. Yes, it was him. Adam Landors was at the door in his usual outfit – dark blue and white trainers, blue jeans, blue fingerless gloves, white T shirt and white unzipped body warmer vest with a blue horizontal stripe in the middle.

"Hey Dawn, how's it going?" he said in an unusually happy tone of voice, leaning against the door frame.

"And how do you think? It's a year since… well, you know what…" she said quietly, suddenly raising her tone of voice. "…and nobody came to talk with me, even you, and I called you twice! I was here all day long! Alone!"

"Calm down, girl! You don't have to be so mad!" Adam smiled. "It's still that day, and I came."

"Yes, at 11 PM. I could be sleeping!" Dawn looked at him with a little anger.

"Anyway, Dawn… it's not the time for joking. If I tell you, you won't believe it." Adam pointed to the car.

"What will you tell me? And besides… it's just a normal Trueno I see here. What's so unbelievable?" she asked, tilting her head. Adam just moved away from the door, giving her a full view of the car. "It's not the Eight-Six. Lookie who we found a few hours ago."

Left door opened and a figure got out of the car. As the light flashed up the figure's face, Dawn's expression was priceless – it was showing everything, from the stunning shock and surprise to unbelievable joy.

_It was him._

"It… it can't be… after all that time… Ash!" She ran forward to be embraced by him, to wrap her arms around his neck, to feel his sweet scent again after a year of living in belief that he's gone… "I can't believe it's you!" She started kissing him like crazy.

"It's me Dawn, it's really me! Stop it, let me say something, sweetie!" Ash laughed, loosening his embrace. After Dawn finally let go of him, she could take a closer look at her lover.

He was still the same – black raven messy hair, dark brown eyes, and his lovely smile. He only had a few more bruises on his face, but he was still her Ash.

"Pika!" A yellow arrow sprinted outside and jumped straight on Ash.

"Pikachu! Good to see you again, buddy!" Ash hugged his yellow friend. "I missed you so much… I missed you both." He smiled at his girl. She smiled.

"I bet you have a lot to tell me."

"And you're right, Dawn. Let's go home. Adam, you come, too." Ash smiled, seeing his friend's puzzled expression.

They were sitting in the living room. Dawn entered the room, holding a tray with three cups of hot chocolate.

"Here you go." She put the tray down and sat next to Ash. All three took their cups and started drinking.

"So, Ash… tell me… where were you for the last year? Why didn't you call me that you're alive?" Dawn asked.

"Huh? You mean…" Ash looked at her with an asking expression.

"Yes, I mean it! You were gone for a year!" Dawn put her cup down. "Do you realize how did I feel when Adam told me you're dead?! I was living for a year like a nun, barely seeing anyone or going out, believing that you're dead! And after a year, you come back alive and act almost like nothing happened! What... what should I think about it?" She finally calmed down.

"Dawn… I…" Ash started to talk.

"He had amnesia." Adam interrupted.

"What?" Dawn looked at him. "Ash, is that true?"

"Yes… When I was found by an elderly couple from Mt. Coronet Village, I barely lived. I was taken to the hospital and treated my wounds there, and after I woke up I didn't remember anything. Even my name. I didn't have my Vato Nash Stealer with me, so I couldn't communicate with anyone. And then… that elderly couple took me to their house. They treated me like their own son… if you say that I was gone for a year… then for a year, I was sure that I really am their son… and then something happened… something that brought all my memories back…"

"Oh my God… It's terrible. Tell me, what happened?" Dawn asked, embracing her boyfriend.

"I met Paul." Ash replied.

"WHAT?!" Dawn let go of him and stood up. "You met up with Paul?!"

"Yes. And he was the one who brought back my memories. He was surprised that I didn't have Pikachu along with me. He asked about him and when I said that I don't know what he's talking about, he showed me a photo. A photo of you, Dawn…" Ash looked at her. "Then I felt all my memories coming back to me, and suddenly I remembered everything from my life, since the time I was little till that tragic fall…"

"One question – where did Paul get my photo?" Dawn looked at him questioningly.

"He didn't have it. He dragged me to a Pokemon Center and showed it to me on the net. Your photo was in Pokemon Contests website… That's when my memories came back, and after I returned to my 'house', I found out my Stealer was completely destroyed. That's why I was acknowledged as dead… if my Stealer was in good shape and anyone called me, I would remember everything much sooner. So I asked Paul to get me out of there."

"And that's when Paul reported me that he found Ash, safe and sound. I couldn't believe it, too, but I went to Mt. Coronet Village just for purpose… and found him there. Then, we decided to get here. We wanted to make you a 'surprise'." Adam smiled. "Oh yes, one more thing…" he took our his Stealer and opened the communicator. "Landors speaking, requesting status change for two rangers, IDs 43725 and 35476. New status: Retired."

"Changes have been applied. Your Stealer will become inactive. Please visit the HQ for three days along with ranger Ketchum." After that, Adam's Stealer has deactivated.

"So… that's all? You're retired as rangers?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah. We're free." Ash looked at his watch. "Adam, shouldn't you be at Mia's?" Ash winked at his friend.

"What?" Adam looked at Ash, then at his watch, and when Ash winked at him, he understood what did Ash mean. "Oh, yeah, right! See you later, guys!" With those words, he sped out of the house. Seconds later, the engine roared and the panda car accelerated away.

"So, Ash… where were we before you left?" Dawn asked sweetly.

"I think we were… upstairs. Remember our agreement before the trip?" Ash asked. Dawn nodded. "I think I'm gonna get good on it right now." He picked her up bridal style and kissed her.

Dawn smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her belief was right. She knew he would come back, and he did. The memories of the ranger came true.

_That was Memories of the Ranger._

_Hope you like it._

_Please R&R, and stay tuned for more stories soon!_


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